A Soyuz rocket helped make history happen as it sent a British astronaut to the ISS for the first time. On Tuesday, December 15, British pride Major Tim Peake joined Russian Yuri Malenchenko and American Tim Kopra as they blasted off to space from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
The launch went smoothly and the six-hour travel went according to plan. However, when it was time to dock to the ISS, the crew shifted from automatic mode due to a technical glitch. Veteran Malenchenko opted to manually guide the spacecraft towards the ISS and became successful.
"The commander switched to manual control and everything went well," said a spokesman for the team.
At 12:33 p.m. ET, the rocket was docked to the station, where ISS astronauts awaited their colleagues.
Moments and Traditions
Peake's travel to space is a historic event for all of United Kingdom and an emotional one for his family and friends.
As per tradition, Peake together with his colleagues, stayed at the Cosmonaut Hotel prior to the launch.
He met with his family prior to the pre-flight rituals, which include signing off his bedroom door before leaving his room and the Earth for the mission. He was also blessed by an Orthodox priest.
Peake was said to have exude a vibe of cheerfulness and confidence as he was getting ready to board.
Pride in Peake
The British government is extremely proud of Peake, with the Prime Minister and the Queen sending tweets of support after the launch.
"It was great to watch Tim Peake blast off on his mission to join the International Space Station," British Prime Minister David Cameron said on Twitter.
People gathered in the Science Museum in London to watch the launch. The crowd went wild as they witnessed the rocket blasting off the launch site. Screams, including those from about 2,000 schoolchildren waving British flags dominated the place.
For Mike Gouldstone, Peake's former Physics teacher, it was a dream come true.
"This is every physics teacher's dream, to have had a future astronaut in front of you," he said. "It is all quite emotional for me."
Peake's mission is called Principia, which is named after Sir Isaac Newton's works. He will perform various scientific experiments, which will hopefully enrich human's existing knowledge of a wide range of concepts.
The three-man crew will stay at the ISS for six months and will return on June 5, 2016.
